Nicholas Burns, "What Should Obama Do Next on Iran?": Actually, What Obama Should Have Done First

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In a guest New York Times op-ed entitled "What Should Obama Do Next on Iran?," Harvard professor and former under secretary of state Nicholas Burns tells us that he "testified in favor of the [Iran nuclear] agreement before four congressional committees, and talked with many members individually during July and August." Informing us that Obama now has sufficient support from Democrats in Congress to override majority opposition to his deal with Khamenei, Burns acknowledges that "Republicans have been right to highlight the deal’s principal weakness — it could permit Iran to emerge stronger 10 to 15 years from now as restrictions on its nuclear program begin to lapse." To overcome this weakness and "win the long-term struggle with Iran for power in the Middle East," Burns recommends:

1. "Mr. Obama could reaffirm President Jimmy Carter’s doctrine from the 1970s that the United States will defend its vital interests in the security of the Persian Gulf region against any aggressor."
2. "Mr. Obama could state in unmistakably clear terms that the United States would use military force to strike Iran should it violate the nuclear agreement and drive toward a nuclear weapon."
3. "Mr. Obama could announce the expedited renewal this autumn of the United States-Israel military assistance agreement, set to expire in 2017."
4. "[T]he administration could reaffirm America’s commitment to form a strong regional coalition with moderate Arab states, Turkey, the European allies and our Asian allies to reimpose sanctions on Iran, should that be necessary."

Question: Shouldn't Obama have announced these measures prior to reaching agreement with Iran? Oh, that's right: These measures would have killed any agreement with Iran in its infancy, they are anathema to Obama, and he has no intention of implementing them.

But Obama thanks you anyway, Nicholas, for providing avid support for this legacy-establishing undertaking, which ensures that Iran will ultimately be only weeks away from an arsenal of nuclear-tipped ICBMs.